Apparatus for training guns mounted on wheeled gun-carriages



E. SCHNEIDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1919- Patented May 25, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- I N VEN TOR.

Mi VIZM M,

ATTORNEY;

E1 SCHNEIDER. APPARATUS FOR TRAINING GUNS MOUNTED 0N WHEELED GUN CARRIAGES.

I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1919. 1,341,386, Patented May 25, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- INVENTOR.

V -K M A TTORNEY A E. SCHNEIDER. APPARATUS FOR TRAINING GUNS MOUNTED 0N WHEELED GUN CARRIAGES.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, I919- 1,341 386. Pmma May 25,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- INVENTOR. MAM BY mm m ATTORNEKQ S'I'I' 1:5. FEENT EUGENE SCHNEIDER, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO SCHNEIDER & CIE., OF PARIS, FRANCE, A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY OF FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR TRAINING GUNS MOUNTED N WHEELED GUN-CARRIAGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

Original application filed February 14, 1918, Serial No. 217,195. Divided and this application filed February 28, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, EUGENE SCHNEIDER,

' a citizen of the Republic of France, a resident of the Republic of France and city of Paris, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Apparatus for Training Guns Mounted on \Vheeled Gun-Carriages, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for facilitating the training of a gun provided with a wheeled gun carriage and, more particularly, to certain embodiments of the invention disclosed and generically claimed in my application Serial No. 217,195, filed February 14:, 1918, of which this application is a division.

It has for its object to provide an improved apparatus, which may be partly removable if desired, which when applied to wheeled gun carriages enables said carriages to be trained by hand with a minimum exertion of power by acting upon the trails of said carriages.

According to this invention one of the elements of a pivotal connection of any suitable construction (cup, annular bearing or spherical pivot member) is attached to the under side of the gun carriage and located in the plane of the longitudinal axis of the latter and in vertical alinement with the center of gravity of the entire gun and its carriage, or approximately in this position, and combined with the complementary element of the pivotal connection (spherical member, pivot pin or annular bearing, or cup) provided on the upper part of a supporting foot. This foot has a height such that the gun can be maintained completely or approximately in equilibrium upon it and if desired entirely out of any direct contact with the ground. In this manner the trail can be raised, without much effort, to

Serial No. 279,872.

ings, but it is to be expressly understood that the drawings are for the purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for that purpose.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a gun carriage provided with apparatus in accordance with this invention shown in a suitable position for training the gun.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the gun carriage in an intermediate position during the maneuver executed to bring the pivotal foot and carriage into the position shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are elevations partly in vertical cross-section showing one embodiment of the invention in three different positions of operation.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein the same letters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures, A is the trail of a wheeled gun carriage of any suitable construction. In the form shown, the carriage carries in the plane of its longitudinal axis and in vertical alinement with a center of gravity of the entire gun and its carriage, one of the elements 13 of a pivotal connection having a vertical axis, the complementary element C of which is carried by a foot D which may be removable in part if desired. In the example shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the pivotal element C takes the form of a spherical member engaging in the cup B carried by the trail, said spherical member being retained therein in any suitable way as by a screw-threaded bearing ring 0.

In practice the pivot C may constitute one of the elements of a lifting jack and is shown as formed with a screw thread C working in a nut E that is able to rotate on the foot D and is provided with manual means for operating the same.

The whole pivot foot C, E, D may be transported separately, but is preferably constructed to be permanently connected to the trail. For this purpose the cup B may be jointed with the trail by means of trunnions Z) movable in lugs a projecting from the under side of the trail A. These lugs may be formed in one piece with a stay A which serves to connect together the sides A of the gun carriage trail.

Means may be provided for keeping the pivotal foot raised and completely stowed away between the sides of the gun carriage trail or in an intermediate position wherein it is raised out of contact with the ground. In .the example shown, a hook F is fixed on a shaft G journaled in the sides A of the trail and is adapted to be operated by means of a lever H, the handle it of which may contain a spring bolt for engagement in a socket, provided in the side of the trail, to retain the said parts in position. The hook F serves during transport to hold the edge of the base plate of the pivotal foot butted against two projections a on the sides of the trail. The base plate may be further provided with an aperture in which the hook may be engaged for holding the pivotal foot in its intermediate position out of contact with the ground.

Referring in detail to Figs. 3 to 6, the nut E is shown as movably mounted in the foot D and as bearing against one end of a spring T located in said foot, the other end of said spring bearing against the bottom of the foot. The nut E is guided in a cap D suitably attached to the upper end of the spring housing If, said cap also forming a stop for a collar 6 suitably mounted on the lower end of the nut E. A washer U, shown as provided with one or more projections u for engagement in slots in the side of the spring casing 6 may be interposed between the collar 6 and the end of the spring T. The spring T is preferably retained between the washer U and the bottom of the foot under an initial stress that is slightly smaller than the weight of the carriage and supported parts.

Normally, when the pivotal foot is suspended underneath the carriage trail, the spring T has a tendency to move the foot D away from the nut E and the screw C the parts then being in the position shown in Fig. 3 with the collar 6 butting against the cap D When it is desired to alter the training of the gun, a gun server lifts the trail into the position shown in Fig. 2, while another gun server by operating the lever H releases the pivotal foot which, turning on its trunnions Z), moves down into contact with the ground as shown in this figure. The trail is then lowered into the position shown in Fig. 1, during which movement the spring T, because supporting the greater part of the weight of the gun and its carriage, is compressed and the pivot C, screw C and nut E move down correspondingly to the position shown in Fig. -5i;. hen the supported. weight is approximately balanced by the supplementary stress thus imposed on the spring the parts as a whole can be swung on the pivot member C, in which case the wheels ma remain slightly in contact with the groun If, in the course of the training movement of the gun carriage, the wheels should strike a prominence of the ground they will readily overcome this obstacle because the whole of the parts may rise relatively to the body D of the lifting jack, and even then the tension of the spring T will nearly balance the weight of the gun and its carriage.

By rotating the nut E it is always possible to cause the screw C to lift the carriage and supported parts for the purpose of either regulating the degree of contact which it is desired to maintain between the wheels and the ground or maintaining the wheels completely raised off the ground.

When the carriage has been brought into the desired position of training, the reverse maneuver is executed by bringing the trail from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the foot may be raised and engaged with the hook F, the nut E being operated in the reverse direction before starting this maneuver if necessary.

While the embodiment of the invention illustrated on the drawings has been described with considerable particularity, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, as the same is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions and as parts thereof may be used without other parts thereof. Reference is therefore to be had to the claims hereto appended for a definition of the limits of the invention.

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a member horizontally pivoted to the gun carriage and vertically pivoted to said movable element, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of said lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of the gun carriage and supported parts. 2. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a pivotal connection between the gun carriage and said movable element substantially in vertical alinement with the center of gravity of said carriage and supported parts, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of the lifting jack.

3. In combination witha wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground,

a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a member pivoted to the gun carriage on a horizontal axis and substantially in vertical alinement with the center of gravity of said carriage and supported parts, said member being pivoted to said movable element on a vertical axis intersecting the longitudinal axis of said carriage, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of the lifting jack.

4. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a member horizontally pivoted to the gun carriage and vertically pivoted to said movable element, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of the lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of said carriage and supported parts, said spring being retained under an initial stress.

5. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element having a threaded connection with said foot and constituting therewith a lifting jack, and a horizontal and vertical pivotal connection between the gun carriage and said movable element substantially in vertical alinement with the center of gravity of said carriage and supported parts.

6. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element having a threaded connection with said foot and constituting therewith a lifting ack, and a member pivotally connected to the gun carriage for movement on a horizontal axis and substantially in vertical alinement with the center of gravity of said carriage and supported parts, said member being pivotally connected to said movable element for movement on a vertical axis intersecting the longitudinal axis of said carriage.

7 In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a pivot between said movable element and the gun carriage, and a spring between the fixed and movable elements of the lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of said carriage and supported parts.

8. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground,

a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a pivot between said movable element and the gun carriage, and a spring between the fixed and movable elements of the lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of said carriage and supported parts, said spring being retained under an initial stress.

9. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, manual means for operating said movable element, a member pivoted to said movable element and provided with horizontal trunnions, bearings for said trunnions on the gun carriage, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of the lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of the gun carriage and supported parts.

10. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable threaded element, a

threaded element on said foot cooperating with said movable element to constitute a lifting jack, manual means for rotating oneof said threaded elements to effect the raising and lowering of said movable element, a pivot between said movable element and the gun carriage, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of said lifting jack to approximately balance the weight of the gun carriage and supported parts.

11. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element pivotally connected to the gun carriage and provided with a screw thread, a screw-threaded member movably mounted on said foot and cooperating with said movable element to constitute a lifting jack, and a spring between said screw-threaded member and the foot for taking the weight of said carriage and supported parts.

12. In combination with a wheeled gun carriage, a foot adapted to rest on the ground, a movable element cooperating with said foot to constitute a lifting jack, a horizontal and vertical pivotal connection between the gun carriage and said movable element, and a spring between the movable and fixed elements of the lifting jack.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

EUGENE" SCHNEIDER. 

